“My boys are into destroying the house, fighting like little lion cubs,” the actor tells PEOPLE. “They’re into digging, anything that digs dirt out of the ground like diggers and jack hammers and machines.”

But a good-looking house guest can bring Gus and Winston‘s focus on the fun outdoors to a sudden standstill. Trammell jokes his 2½-year-olds have a weak spot for women and immediately turn up their rough and tumble tendencies when one’s around.

“Boys are boys. If a pretty girl comes in the house — especially with blonde hair — they just start running in circles and screaming. That’s their first reaction … they just go, ‘Ahhh!’ ” he says.

“When you’re an adult, you hold those feelings in, but when you’re a kid, you just scream and run. It’s so funny.”
Trammell and his longtime love Missy Yager will celebrate the boys’ third birthday in August, and according to their doting dad, the two are already well on their way to becoming little gentlemen.

“They’re very, very, very different from each other — one is a little more outgoing than the other,” he says. “We try to get them to acknowledge people and say hi and look them in the eye, firm handshake.”

When he’s not on double daddy duty, Trammell has been busy promoting the June 22 season premiere of True Blood. But the actor says he’s expecting an even greater response to his new buzzed-about film, The Fault in Our Stars, in theaters Friday.

“We’ve had rabid fans with True Blood for years, but not to the level of the fans for The Fault in Our Stars,” he explains. “They love the book and then when people see the movie, it’s so loyal to the book, it’s so beautiful.”

Calling the movie’s premiere an “unbelievable experience,” Trammell admits the fanfare was similar to another iconic feature film.

“It was like a rock concert. The lights went down and people just went, ‘Yeah!’ ” he shares. “All these different moments people were crying and laughing and shouting at the screen. It was like The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”